The latest short film to be released by Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios is just as bizarre and creative as the two previously released shorts. Zygote officially released on July 12 with a mixture of pure horror and amazing creature effects.
Oats Studios was created by Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium, Chappie) as a way to create outside of the major studios. The results so far have been phenomenal, two short films have already been released. Rakka, a futuristic take on Earth being ruled by lizard-like aliens and the struggle for survival; and Firebase, a Vietnam war-era tale about a soldier hunting the River God. With Zygote releasing, this is the perfect time to catch up on all of Oats Studios offerings.
Zygote tells the tale of two people as they run and attempt to hide; from a walking collection of human body parts. Yes I said walking collection of melded human body parts, you really have to see it to really grasp what it is, but ‘body horror’ has never been more apt a description. Gore is ramped up as the short reaches it crescendo to the screams and moans in the distance. Similar to previous releases, it only makes you want to spend more time uncovering the who, what, and wait, really body part monster??!
Oats Studios is also allowing aspiring filmmakers to buy assets to their Volume 1 shorts DLC through their Steam page. These 3D assets allow anyone to pop assets designed for the shorts into films or videos as they see fit. By sharing the source assets with the community it only further emphasizes just how determined Blomkamp is to doing things his own way. This just isn’t just creating some crazy short films, it is about expanding creativity not just of the studio but to the entire community around it.
There still is a bit of an unknown about where these shorts will lead. Blomkamp has mentioned several scenarios so for for the films. One possibility is that if a short catches solid interest it can be transitioned into a film at Oats Studios. Another possibility is Blomkamp mentioned while speaking to Nerdist was:
The main goal eventually, if it’s possible, is to raise enough money from the audience to make films independently. There are four films in [Oats Studios] Volume 1, and then there are other weird, smaller pieces that go between them. So if the audience online has seen four films by the time Volume 1 is done, and there are enough people who liked what they saw, one option is we make Volume 2 and charge for it so we can make Volume 3.
Zygote was released on July 12th on the Oats Studios YouTube page. How do you feel about the shorts so far? Would you be willing to pay for a second and third Volume based on what you have seen so far?
